![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/logos\/logo-euronews-stacked-outlined-72x72-grey-9.svg\"){kind=logo}
\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
EU countries with the cleanest energy mix will be cushioned from the soaring price of oil and gas, as the war on Iran continues to highlight the true cost of fossil fuel reliance. <\/p>\n
\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
Within two days after strikes hit the Middle East, Dutch TTF (the benchmark for wholesale gas prices<\/a> across Europe) prices spiked by 68 per cent to \u20ac52.8 per megawatt-hour, the highest level in two years. <\/p>\n At the beginning of this week (Monday 20 April) Dutch TTF was trading at a much lower \u20ac40.2 per MWh. The dip comes after signs of major de-escalation amid a two-week ceasefire, but it is still significantly higher than before the conflict began (\u20ac31.5 per MWh).<\/p>\n Much of the volatility is down to Iran\u2019s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a 38km passage that carries around one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies. In March, liquified natural gas (LNG) exports to the EU dropped by 11 per cent.<\/p>\n This spurred the EU’s energy commissioner to recommend that countries fill their stocks steadily over the summer to \u201cmitigate pressure on prices and avoid an end-of-summer rush\u201d. <\/p>\n It has also paved the way for a rapid interest in home-grown renewables<\/a>, which are increasingly being touted as a more stable investment in light of geopolitical tensions.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no price spikes for sunlight and no embargoes on the wind,\u201d UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said last month. <\/p>\n Can clean energy shelter the EU from rising gas prices?<\/p>\n A new report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA<\/a>) found that despite a sharp rise in prices and growing fears over dwindling supplies, the bloc remains \u201cbetter protected\u201d from price sensitivity than in 2022 \u2013 following Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. <\/p>\n This is mainly down to the boom in renewables, which hit new records in 2025, and could save the EU a staggering \u20ac5.8 billion in 2026 by displacing expensive gas. <\/p>\n Experts point out that this would be significantly higher if gas prices weren\u2019t responsible for setting the energy price in many countries, due to the EU\u2019s marginal pricing mechanism. <\/p>\n In 2025, every \u20ac1\/MWh rise in gas price led to a \u20ac0.37 per MWh rise in electricity prices \u2013 an eight per cent reduction from 2022. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is directly linked to decoupling [the price of electricity] from gas and investments in clean energy, whose share towards electricity generation in the EU grew by 14 per cent in 2025, compared to 2022,\u201d the report explains.<\/p>\n Which EU countries are the most sheltered from rising gas prices?<\/p>\n Every single EU member state has seen its sensitivity to gas price movements reduce in recent years, following an increase in clean energy.<\/p>\n But it is consumers in five EU countries particularly \u2013 Denmark, Finland, France, Sweden and Slovakia \u2013 that benefit from the highest clean energy share in their electricity mix. The report says that these nations will save \u20ac8.5 billion on their energy bills this year. This will reduce bills by 58 per cent compared to countries with the dirtiest mix (Poland, Italy, Greece, Estonia and the Netherlands). <\/p>\n The estimation is based on consumption remaining the same this year as in 2025, while accounting for higher prices and gas-price sensitivity.<\/p>\n Sweden came out victorious as the EU state with the least sensitivity to gas price shocks, according to data from 2025. On average, for every \u20ac1 rise in the price of gas, Sweden records a mere \u20ac0.04\/MWh rise in wholesale electricity prices. <\/p>\n \u201cWhile Sweden is one of the nine countries currently with gas storage significantly below the EU average, its lack of reliance on the source for power \u2013 with 99 per cent of its electricity met with clean energy \u2013 further insulates the electricity market from price shock,\u201d the report states. <\/p>\n Spain<\/a> and Portugal are also benefitting from accelerating investment in renewables, having seen a 21 per cent growth in clean energy in 2025 compared to 2022. This has largely been spearheaded by a 74 per cent boom in solar.<\/p>\n At the same time, both countries\u2019 sensitivity to gas price shocks has dropped by 53 per cent. Last year, for every \u20ac1 rise in the price of gas, Spain and Portugal\u2019s joint production zone saw a \u20ac0.089 rise in price per MWh, the third lowest in the bloc. <\/p>\n France has also witnessed a sharp reduction in its sensitivity to gas prices, chiefly due to a growth in clean energy that has seen its sensitivity to gas halve between 2022 and 2025. <\/p>\n Which countries are paying the price for their fossil fuel reliance?<\/p>\n The Netherlands, despite recording a 31 per cent increase in clean power generation, remains more sensitive to gas prices than 2022.<\/p>\n Despite the country\u2019s solar and wind share in electricity being higher than the EU average, gas continues to be used as the single largest source of electricity in the country. <\/p>\n \u201cTheir sensitivity is also linked to being highly integrated in the European gas market \u2013 often as a price taker \u2013 and therefore susceptible to shocks transmitted by neighbours like Germany,\u201d the report adds. <\/p>\n \u201cGas has traditionally played an outsized role in centralised electricity production in the Netherlands (22 per cent), with clean energy sources, specifically solar, playing a bigger role in decentralised electricity generation.\u201d<\/p>\n